[PW MAX]

That new Tigers' logo definitely looks right for my version of the Tigers at least. I digs the new font.

Originally Posted by knuckler

Thanks, PW! I was thinking about doing an El Paso Diablos logo and could easily adapt that to the Detroit Devils for you. I was hoping you would post more teams from your league as I really like hearing about the history and I enjoy making the logos for you.

To steal a line from Fred Flintstone's old buddies from Arkanstone, The Hatrocks, in that episode where they came to visit, and never seemed inclined to leave...

"You mean 'nat?"

Post more teams, you say? No sooner said than did! One can only hope I don't bust out too many at once.

First up, the Boston Minutemen. Yeah, I know the logos and jerseys for these fine fellers have already been completed, so this may be something of a step backwards, but I was a wee bit lax with the backstory, so I'll go ahead and fill that in real quick.

The Minutemen started out as the Boston Red Caps, due to the color of the caps they wore, but very quickly became the Boston Cardinals, in reference to a connection they had with a Catholic church in Boston. Strangely, they were sometimes referenced as the 'Boston Bishops', though no records I've ever seen show they've ever functioned officially under that name.

They played all their games, (and still do), at the historic Cumberland Fields, a field that's essentially a landmark nowadays.

Their biggest claim to fame is of course their famous pitcher Chez Greyfield, who had come up through the aforementioned church in Boston, and was a natural on the mound. He got his start with the team at the age of 18, and was the star of the club by age 25. It'd take a while to list his achievements on the mound, so I could just sum things up here by casually mentioning that at the end of every season since 1972, 'Greyfield's Award' has been presented to the CBC's best pitchers, in both the American and National Conference.

As an aside, the New York Hawks tried each and every thing they could think of to lure Greyfield to Manhattan over the years, but he remained loyal to Boston forever, and is still considered something of a folk hero there because of it.

The Boston Cardinals became a charter member of the CBC when it took control of baseball in 1932, and they became the Boston Minutemen in 1941.

Okay, that gets them out of the way. Who else we got?

Well, there's always the Lexington Pioneers. I've already mentioned a little about them, way back in the Lexington Sycamores post, and I've already discussed their legendary player-manager Jimmie 'Sycamore' Flynn, so what's more to add in here? Well, there was this one guy....

The Tower of Power, Bruno "The Beast" Baylor, an (extremely) heavy handed home run hitter from the backwoods of Kentucky, with a rotten disposition and a lifelong love of all things good Christian folk dare not speak of in public. Seems he was often making the papers for one misdeed or another, but the fans were quick to forgive him when he went back to belting out those mile-long home runs.

Sadly, at least for the Pioneers, Baylor's loyalty was nowhere near as devout as Greyfield's had been, so when the Hawks came calling, he packed his bags.

The fans were not so quick to forgive that.

Jimmie Flynn often mentioned in interviews that he was glad to get rid of Baylor, that he was a pain in the butt, and was far too much trouble. I secretly suspect he was stretching the truth a little on that one, but that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. I'm sure the Lexington fans would have enjoyed a few more championships.

On a side note for both of these two: star pitcher Clay Young, much later on, debuted with with the Pioneers, and enjoyed a number of good seasons there before going on to find his glory days with the Cincinnati Tigers. Then he finished things up with the Boston Minutemen, desperately clinging to his career till he reached that one last milestone.

Starting to run out of steam here.

OK, the Detroit Devils started out their days as the Detroit Wolverines, and spent some time as the Detroit Wolves, Detroit Mechanics, and the Detroit Pistols before finally settling on Detroit Devils. The name 'Devils' comes from their sadistic, (some might say) general manager Victor "Bullhead" Bullmore, the original Detroit Devil. As a player, he was more famous for starting fights than scoring runs, but he had a great mind for the game, and would go on to become a great coach. His methods were a bit... intense, shall we say, but he did get results. The Devils, the notorious red and black, were a tough team to deal with in the 50s.

As rough as the Devils played, and as aggressive as they could be, some would argue that the Houston Outlaws, (known as the Gunslingers in some circles), could be even more aggressive, and, dare I say... brutal. The Outlaws joined the CBC as the expansion Houston Spitfires, owned by the very loud and very outspoken Miss Cordelia Rennie. Well, you'd think they were anyway. They were actually, at least in theory, owned by her husband, but with her big, booming personality, history would be hard-pressed to remember his name. True ownership aside, SHE was the one in charge. The Rennies, loaded though they were, kept the purse strings pulled a little tight, and the Spitfires began their life at Sackett Fields in Houston... where the mosquitoes often outnumbered the fans. By the time new ownership took over, rough and tumble had become their way, and when they became the Outlaws, it was a match made... somewhere. These days, the Outlaws are known for aggressive and (some would say) dirty play.

As yet another aside, I have a logo and jersey set for these guys, under their original name, The Gunslingers, but thought it might be interesting to go retro-style for this Outlaws version of the team. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it: once upon a time I had named my pitcher's award 'The Commissioner's Trophy'. Later that seemed a more fitting name for the trophy given to the team that wins the World Championship Series, and I renamed the pitcher's award 'Greyfield's Award'. Just figured I'd stick that little tidbit in here.

In other news...

The D.C. Capitals started out as the Washington Potomacs, waaaaaaaaaaay back in the day, and even went by the Washington Statesmen for a spell, in the early 20th Century. They became the Washington Capitals when the CBC took root in '32, and eventually morphed into the D.C. Capitals by the by. It was through them that the tradition of having the President throw out the first pitch of the season came to be, but they were probably better known for providing the backdrop for some of Bruno Baylor's hardest hit home runs. The old Union Stadium was notoriously small compared to other parks, and was popular among longball hitters because of that. The Caps have had much more successful outings in more recent years.

I'll be sure to post some more later, I definitely have many more to go, but I think I may be running a bit TOO long here now. 40ft. is about my limit for posts.



Just for clarity's sake, other teams on the format include: Minnesota North Stars, Birmingham Rebels, B.C. Mounties, Vegas Aces, and others still.

I am a man of many teams.